Intro

It is an honor to meet all of you. I’m Ki-jung Kang, the mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City.

I sincerely welcome all of you visiting Gwangju to participate in the 17th Korean Prime Minister’s Cup International Baduk Championship. Following the 7th competition in 2012, it is the second KPMC in Gwangju, which is especially meaningful for us. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Hyo-seok Seo, the president of the Korea Baduk Federation as well as the officials and staffs for preparing for the 17th KPMC.

Baduk (Go) is a sport that has been highly loved by the public. In particular, it is a representative spiritual heritage of the East that embraces the depth of human life and the logic of the universe, and an attractive mind sport enjoyed by citizens all across the world.

While the both sides are fiercely competing, the greatest allure of Baduk is the subtlety of completing the variation of harmonious art and deep thought. We could learn the precious wisdom of living the life through Baduk, which we should do our best one by one during the play.

For the 17th KPMC, the representative players from 57 countries around the world would participate in to compete for the championship. I sincerely hope it would be a meaningful competition to exchange cultures of each participant through Baduk and communicate with each other through abilities.

Also, I look forward to great matches with a stroke of genius from everyone. It would be a pleasure if you could make unforgettable memories while you would stay in Gwangju.
Thank you very much.

It is an honor to meet Baduk players and participants from all over the world.

I am sincerely pleased the 17th Korea Prime Minister Cup International Baduk Championship, the world Baduk Festival could be held successfully, and greet and encourage all the players participating in this tournament

Likewise, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Hyo-seok Seo, the president of the Korea Baduk Federation and Ki-jung Kang, the mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, and all officials who have spared no pains to host the successful tournament.

In addition to traditional sports which are mainly about physical matches along with the expansion of the sports areas, the popularity of mind sports using the brain which is the core of the central nervous system has increased. In particular, the mind sports led by Baduk, chess, and e-sports have pioneered new areas in the sports fields unlike in the past.

Among them, Baduk, a traditional Eastern mind sport, has a great function for developing the brain and expanding social exchanges as well as a healthy leisure, so it would be expected the sport would be developed and expanded in the future.

Starting with the first tournament in 2006, the 17th KPMC is the most prestigious Amateur Baduk championship held in Korea. In particular, it is a Baduk festival which many Baduk people compete with excellent players from the countries around the world to show their performance of Baduk.

I wish all participating players could show their performance with fair play in every game, and other participants who love Baduk could enjoy watching Baduk matches, the beauty of Korea and could make beautiful memories.

I reiterate my wish that the tournament could be encourage the spread of Baduk and the improvement of its capabilities. I sincerely wish all participants good luck and hope them come out on top. Thank you very much.

All respectful players, executives, and Baduk club members!

I sincerely welcome all of you who participate in the 17th Korea Prime Minister Cup International Baduk Championship held hereby in Gwangju, the home of culture and art in the bountiful season as well as the mecca of the democracy in Korea.

Despite the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic situation, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the passion of all representative players of each country who visit Korea with a long way. All Baduk club members!

We could clearly remember the moment that everyone was enthusiastic about the match between Se-dol Lee, one of the best professional Baduk players from this region and AlphaGo six years ago.

Baduk is a more interesting and instructive brain sport than any other sports developed by mankind. I’m really proud of you for choosing to play such an excellent sport.

You are the protagonists of this Baduk tournament. To achieve your goals, please show your performance which has been honed so far. Every moment would be remembered beautifully for a long time if you could do your best in the game with your high-quality sportsmanship.

I sincerely hope that the Baduk population could expand further through this tournament which could be a venue for a festival to foster harmony and dreams of Baduk people.

Finally, I reiterate to express my deep gratitude to the officials of the Korea Baduk Federation, Gwangju and Gwangju Baduk Association for their cooperation and support for the successful tournament.

I wish all of you good luck and good health. Thank you very much.

Hello, everyone.

Congratulations on hosting the 17th Korea Prime Minister’s Cup International Baduk Championship, a festival for amateur Baduk players around the world. Above all, I am most pleased that it could be held as a face-to-face tournament.

Due to the worldwide spread of the COVID-19, there had been virtually no international exchanges except for a few online events over the past two years. With the opening of the KPMC, I sincerely hope that various Baduk events will return to the circumstance before COVID-19 and regain the vitality.

Representative players from 53 countries around the world participate in this tournament. It has decreased in number from the last year’s 64 participating countries, but considering the face-to-face path has not been fully opened yet, it could be expected that a considerable number of players participate in the tournament.

Gwangju Metropolitan City, where this tournament would be held, is also the place where the 7th KPMC was successfully held in 2012. I also spent my school days here in Gwangju until high school. I hope you could taste delicious food and enjoy various cultural experiences in Gwangju like me. It would be an honor if you return to your home country and promote Gwangju.

While taking care of your health, I wish you could show your performance honed for a long time.

Lastly, I would like to express my appreciation to the current Korean Prime Minster, Duck-soo Han who spared no supports for the tournament, the Mayor of Gwangju, Ki- jung Kang and all officials for their efforts to hold the successful KPMC again in 10 years.

Thank you very much.